8. Windows NT was originally called “Portable Systems.”

1995–2001: Windows 95—the PC comes of age

9. Microsoft paid Brian Eno $35,000 to compose 3.25 seconds of music for the Windows 95 startup sound.

10. Windows 95 featured the first appearance of the Start menu, taskbar, and minimize, maximize, and close buttons on each window.

11. Windows 95, with built-in Internet support and dial-up networking, marked the coming of the Internet Age.

1998–2000: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me

12. Windows 98 was the first Windows system that supported DVD discs and universal serial bus (USB) devices.

13. Windows 98 was the last version based on MS DOS.

2001–2005: Windows XP

14. Between the original launch of Windows and the release of Windows XP, about one billion PCs were shipped worldwide.

15. Windows XP was compiled from 45 million lines of code.

2006–2008: Windows Vista

16. More than 1.5 million devices were compatible with Windows Vista at launch.